Recently, the use of robots has been increasing rapidly in industry. In particular, the use of robots for spray painting and other finishing operations has provided a substantial opportunity for increased efficiency. Traditionally, standard spray guns or modified versions of standard guns have been utilized merely by mounting those on the end of a robot arm. Such modifications generally consist of removing the piston grip which is present on most spray guns; however, other than such removal, there is no other substantial adaptation made to the gun suiting it to use of a robot. In order to reach into tight corners, often times the gun is mounted on an actuator which reorients the spray gun plus or minus 90.degree. about its mounting point, thus allowing the arm and gun to reach into tight corners. Because the payload in general of robot arms is fairly limited and because the spray guns often weigh substantial amounts, the flipper mechanism can be highly stressed. It is therefore desired to provide a spray gun which pivots only the necessary portions rather than the whole gun.
In general, electrostatic spray guns are well known. Traditionally, such guns have needed a high voltage cable running from a power supply to the gun. More recent guns utilize a built-in power generation assembly which uses compressed air to operate a small turbine-alternator unit to provide a voltage source which is then multiplied to a value useful for electrostatic paint applications. Such constructions are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,462,061, and 4,497,447. Such devices are also manufactured by the assignee of the instant application under the model name PRO-4000.